In a previous article I spoke about slurs and bends. In this article I’d like to draw your attention to slides and vibrato. When used in conjunction with slurs and bends you’ll start to flesh out your articulation toolkit and will be able to play much more fluidly and soulfully by using these essential techniques.
Slides are great and they can add a real slippery quality to your playing. You can have big slides comprising of multiple frets or smaller slides where you slide into the note from below or above using one or two frets. The slides can be quick or slow, soulful or aggressive. You get the picture? The trick here is to be as accurate as possible. You don’t want to overshoot by sliding past the note your aiming for and vice versa. So start with a target note of choice and then start practicing sliding into that note from below or above. Make sure you nail it. The more you practice this the better you’ll get at it and then you’ll have one more way to sound a note on the guitar. It’s a good idea to practice slides with a number of guitar scales.
Lastly I’d like to talk about vibrato… I like to think of this as the “fingerprint” in guitar playing. In the same way that no two human beings have the same fingerprints you won’t get two guys who sound exactly the same when using vibrato. It’s just way too personal and I believe it’s ingrained into your DNA but like all things you need to develop it. Your vibrato could be real intense like Paul Kossoff or you might opt for a smoother vibrato. Your vibrato could be tone wide like Yngwie Malmsteen or perhaps a bit more controlled. Of course you can change which style of vibrato you want to use depending on what you’re playing. Just a word of advice, don’t use vibrato when playing traditional jazz. It’s like going to a country club dressed in full goth attire. Might not go down as smoothly as some might think. Developing good vibrato takes time so be patient and try to avoid using vibrato that’s too frantic sounding. One of my teachers referred to this a the “scared sheep” vibrato. The best place to start would be to take one of your favorite players and start to emulate their sound.
Right then loads to get your teeth stuck into. Do yourself and your bank account a favor. Before you consider buying the next pedal, amp, guitar or gadget rather double your money by folding it and putting it back into your pocket and develop your articulation instead. Much more gratifying and way more effective in the long run. Why do I say this you might ask? Well for some weird and wonderful reason there’s this strange phenomenon which works as follows. When you get the chance to play through your favorite guitarist’s rig you’re still gonna sound like you and nothing like him or her. Strange but true! So stop suffering from G.A.S (gear acquisition syndrome) and get working on your your articulation techniques. Rock on!!
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